Two crashes - HELP!

[Threedp]

I have two strange crash situations that I'm seeking help with:

For MAW, I have an installation that has been sound and dependable for years. A while ago, it started crashing out right before the last start up step. I get the small splash screen, then the large splash screen, then boom, nothing. I even tried replacing the MAW directory with a backup I did several months ago. No difference. One thing I do recall was that when it started happening, if I fired up another install (MAW43, PTO or something), closed it, and then fired up MAW, it worked, but that trick seems to not work anymore. I also tried zapping the BDP files to no effect.

UPDATE: By trial and error, I've discovered that the MAW issue is an old nemesis, namely that the game doesn't like something about the last plane I'd selected. I've noticed this in some cases where I add a plane, start the game, change to the new plane (no problem), fly the plane (no problem), end the mission and close out (no problem). However, when I go to start the game again, I get the crash described above. If I remember what the last plane I flew was, I simply remove its folder from the main install directory, start the game, which gives a mission failed to load message, and quickly switch to a new aircraft and fly, which resets everything. This is why I try to always select planes that are part of the install (not an add-on) before closing. Is there any file that tells one what the last plane you selected was and therefore what it will try to load the next time you start up? In this particular case, I had actually left it with a non add-on SAAF plane, but it caused the crash.

For ETO, the problem is that sometimes (no pattern discernible), after flying a mission, when I dismiss the the debrief menu, it freezes and then crashes.

Any input welcome!

[MajorMagee]

When this happens to me, 9 times out or 10 it's a missing or mis-directed (wrong folder) sound reference. (The other time is usually a reference to a non-existent weapon in the selected loadout.)

Here's a quick way to get back into the game to see what's causing the issue.

Go to you game.xml file and edit ShowUIWorld="true" to be ShowUIWorld="false".

Once the offending aircraft model has been swapped out you can change the setting back.

[Threedp]

Thanks! I will note that near my startup shortcuts so I don't forget.

Any ideas on the far less severe but rather annoying ETO one?

[MajorMagee]

I'm not sure, but it could be associated with either the airfield having issues (location or static item content), or again the loadout you were carrying.

[Daiwilletti]

Recently I was making some changes to an install and wasn't getting anywhere. I ran MultiCFS3.exe, and found that somehow the registry(?) was corrupted and pointing to stock CFS3. Running MultiCFS3 and getting the install name right solved my problems.